While my extended family would pile their colorful plates high with a bounty of turkey and gravy, every kind of casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce and veggies galore, my picky little plate, by contrast, was a study in monochrome. I would quickly bypass all of the veggies to pick out a small slice of turkey (white meat only, I insisted), a big scoop of mashed potatoes (sans-gravy, of course), maybe a small scoop of corn (had to meet Mom’s one vegetable quota), and then — the best part of the entire meal — one of my grandmother’s famous soft and buttery dinner rolls. Atop which I would pile another dinner roll. And another. And another.

What my plate lacked in diversity, it made up for in height. I could balance an impressive mountain of carbohydrates when it came to those dinner rolls!

Fast forward thirty years, and I still look forward to good dinner rolls on Thanksgiving just as much. Granted, they are now surrounded by a much more balanced array of veggies (the more, the merrier), dark turkey meat (finally saw the light!), and gravy on everything (yum). But warm pan of soft and buttery dinner rolls each holiday is still a must. And since I rarely make them nowadays, when I do bake up a batch, I want the real deal rolls that I grew up with. I’m talkin’ all-purpose flour, plenty of butter, yeast and rise times and the whole nine yards — this recipe right here.

And the good news? This recipe is actually surprisingly simple to make, especially if you’re new to working with yeast. And it can be ready to go from start to finish in just one hour. So if you’re looking for a solid dinner rolls recipe to make this Thanksgiving (or any night of the year), I thought it was time to bump this one back to the top of the blog today for you to bookmark. I think you’re going to love them!

1-Hour Dinner Rolls Ingredients:

As with many classic bread recipes, the ingredient list for this one is super-simple. To make this 1-Hour Dinner Rolls recipe, you will need:

Water and Milk: These will serve as our base liquids for the bread dough.

Melted Butter: Which we will both bake into the rolls and brush on top.

Honey: Just a little bit to add a hint of sweetness.

Active Dry Yeast: This recipe calls for 1 tablespoon active dry yeast which — if you are buying the little packets — is a little more than one packet. So be sure to purchase two!

All-Purpose Flour: This is the only flour with which I’ve tested this recipe. It may work with others, but I can’t say for sure.

Salt: To bring out all of these delicious flavors.

How To Make Dinner Rolls:

Alright, if you’re nervous about working with yeast, hakuna matata. We’re in this together! To make these dinner rolls, simply…

Warm the liquid ingredients. In a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, stir together the water, milk, butter and honey. Then microwave for 1 minute, and give it a stir. Then continue microwaving it in 15 second intervals, until the mixture is very warm to the touch but not hot or boiling (ideally 110°F, but anywhere between 95°F-115°F will do), and the butter is completely melted. The temperature of the water is important here, because if it’s too hot (120°F or more), it will kill the yeast. If it’s too cool, the yeast will not activate. Just think — a little bit warmer than your body temperature.

Add yeast. Pour the liquid mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer(affiliate link). Then sprinkle the yeast evenly on top, and give it a quick stir with a fork to combine. Wait for five minutes, or until the yeast is foamy.

Add dry ingredients. Then add in 3.5 cups of flour (not all of the flour!) and the salt.

Mix. Using the dough-hook, mix on medium-low speed until the dry ingredients are combined. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add in 1/4 cup more flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is only slightly sticky to the touch. (Only use up to 4 cups of flour total.) Continue mixing on low speed for 4-5 minutes. Then form the dough into a ball with your hands and transfer it to a greased bowl.

Let the dough rise. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or paper towel, and let it rise briefly for 15 minutes.

Form the rolls. Gently punch the dough down and divide into 15 equal-sized pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place the dough balls in a greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Cover the dish again with a damp towel or paper towel, and let the dough balls rise for an additional 15-20 minutes.

Bake. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the rolls are lightly golden brown on top and cooked through.

Brush with more buttah. Remove the baking dish from the oven, and brush the tops of the rolls with butter. (Yum.)

Serve warm. And enjoy!

What To Serve With These Dinner Rolls:

If you happen to be making this dinner rolls recipe for the holidays, feel free to check out our full collections of Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter recipes. But otherwise, these rolls would be delicious served with any of the following faves:

Ingredients

Instructions

Prep your oven and baking dish. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan with cooking spray, and set aside.

Warm the liquid ingredients. In a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, stir together the water, milk, butter and honey. Then microwave for 1 minute, and give it a stir. Then continue microwaving it in 15 second intervals, until the mixture is very warm to the touch but not hot or boiling (anywhere between 95°F-115°F), and the butter is completely melted. The temperature of the water is important here, because if it’s too hot (120°F or more), it will kill the yeast. If it’s too cool, the yeast will not activate. Just think — a little bit warmer than your body temperature.

Add yeast. Pour the liquid mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer. Then sprinkle the yeast evenly on top, and give it a quick stir with a fork to combine. Wait for five minutes, or until the yeast is foamy.

Add dry ingredients. Then add in 3.5 cups of flour (not all of the flour!) and the salt.

Mix. Using the dough-hook, mix on medium-low speed until the dry ingredients are combined. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add in 1/4 cup more flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is only slightly sticky to the touch. (Only use up to 4 cups of flour total.) Continue mixing on low speed for 4-5 minutes. Then form the dough into a ball with your hands and transfer it to a greased bowl.

Let the dough rise. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or paper towel, and let it rise briefly for 15 minutes.

Form the rolls. Gently punch the dough down and divide into 15 equal-sized pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place the dough balls in a greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Cover the dish again with a damp towel or paper towel, and let the dough balls rise for an additional 15-20 minutes.

Bake. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the rolls are lightly golden brown on top and cooked through.

Brush with more butter. Remove the baking dish from the oven, and brush the tops of the rolls with butter. (Yum.)

Serve warm. And enjoy!

Notes

*I buy my yeast in bulk. But if you’re buying the packets, note that 1 packet contains 2.25 teaspoons yeast. So this will call for a little more than 1 packet.

Made this for the first time just an hour ago. Process was easy and rolls are picture perfect. Mine could use a bit more salt but they’ll be great tomorrow for mopping up gravy. Will definitely add this to the recipe box.

I made these 2 weeks ago– and thought they were so great — going to make them again tomorrow–after I took them out of the oven I brushed them with melted herb butter–just so so good -Thanks for the recipe//

Quick question – if I want to make these the day before and bake them the day of serving them – next day…at what point do I stop and put in refrigerator? Or will this recipe work that way? If not, I’ll do my best the day of…trying these instead of my mom’s rolls – crossing my fingers!

I made these today- but they did not rise very well. Instead of light and fluffy, they were heavy and dense! I made sure the temp of my liquid was right where it needed to be and everything. I feel it has to do with my yeast though. Thoughts on what I did incorrectly?

YUMMY!!! I made these for Christmas with the family and they were a HUGE hit – probably the best part of the entire dinner! They were gobbled up before I could even get a photo! I’ll never go back to store-bought again. These were SO easy and SO delicious!!! Thank you so much for the great recipe!

I rarely leave comments, but I thought these were the most delicious and easiest rolls I have ever made! I polled the dinner table (ages 3, 7, and mom and dad) as I was leaving this review and everyone agreed these dinner rolls get ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️!!!

They were delicious. Easy to make and turned out beautifully. I added the butter to the top mid baking and after baking I added on a small bit of honey butter mix on top. Ty for sharing my family and I loved them.👍😊

This is my first time to make a bread and I’m so happy with the result. It’s so easy and turned out yummy. Thumbs up for myself! :) It’s also good to insert some cheese when re-heating. Love it! Thanks so much for this recipe.

These rolls are amazing. It was so incredibly easy to make them. What I really liked about it was how they were so quick to make. Under an hour is right! They are flaky and delicious. I usually don’t leave a review, but these need one. 10 Stars! :-)

These are SO GOOD! And not super sweet like the other yeast rolls Ive made. This is definitely my go to recipe also for those who are worried I’ve made this recipe multiple times with only one packet of yeast and it turns out amazing.

Made these rolls yesterday.
I only use instant yeast and when I buy it I buy 2 1lb blocks for $5.00 from Sam’s..
I just put all the dry together in mixing bowl wisk together then add the wet.
These rolls were ready in no time.
Great recipe
Thanks for sharing
Roy P
South Carolina

Made these with almond milk, dairy free butter, instant yeast (not active dry) and I doubled the recipe and they were delicious!! I do make bread often so I am familiar with how it should look and feel but the instant yeast worked great and honestly we all felt like they were better the second day – oddly enough. I have 4 boys and all of them loved them – so basically that means this recipe is a keeper.
Thanks for sharing your talent!

I haven’t tried yet, but this recipe is very much like my recipe that I got forty years ago from our local extension office. It was found in a beautiful booklet brimming over with bread recipes made with fleichmans yeast. The only thing I would do different is use bread flour, it is a really good flour for making breads nd priced the same as all purpose flour. Later on in the years I began making the dough in a bread maker machine. Doing this didn’t necessarily save time but simplified the process I haven’t mace homemade rolls in years, but now I’m inspired to make a batch for the next family gather. Thanks so much for sharing.

Absolutely loved this recipe!!! I just substituted and used heavy cream instead of milk and it turned out deliciously buttery and oh so fluffy. Making my second batch for my husband to take for lunch tomorrow. Guess it was a hit!